Low-volume consolidation followed by high-volume breakdown below 10-bar low with volume expansion.
Four conditions operate in parallel. First, "close below 10-candle low" means the current bar has closed beneath the lowest close of the prior 10 sessions — a structural breakdown. Second, "volume more than 1.5x the 20-period average" confirms genuine participation in the move — not a thin-market drift below support. Third, "body more than 40% of ATR(14)" ensures the candle's real body is substantial, eliminating weak, indecisive breakdown candles. Fourth, "low volume in at least 3 of the last 5 bars" (volume below 80% of average) confirms the pre-breakdown period was genuinely quiet — a distribution zone, not an already-active selling period. The combination creates a high-specificity signal that fires when quiet consolidation transitions sharply to high-conviction downside.
Distribution breakdown is the Wyckoff distribution phase realized: institutional supply is loaded quietly during low-volume consolidation, then initiated as a downside break when demand is exhausted. The setup works best when the consolidation occurs near a known resistance zone or a prior swing high — the quiet period represents sellers distributing into residual demand, and the breakdown confirms they have won. Failure modes: (1) the breakdown occurs into major support (52-week lows, key SMA levels), where buyers aggressively defend — the screen does not check what is below the breakdown level; (2) a news event reversal pulls the stock back above the breakdown level within the same session; (3) the low-volume period was accumulation by a single large buyer, and the breakdown is a fake-out designed to shake out weak hands before a reversal. Compare to Accumulation Breakout for the bullish equivalent, and Volume Surge 2x for high-volume events without the prior consolidation filter.
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This screener finds stocks that have consolidated on low volume for at least three of the last five bars and then broke below the 10-bar low with heavy volume and a full-bodied candle. It is the bearish mirror of Accumulation Breakout — it captures the institutional distribution pattern: quiet supply loading at resistance followed by a decisive high-volume breakdown. Currently 6 stocks match on the Daily chart. Short sellers and breakdown traders use it to identify potential trend initiation to the downside where volume confirms institutional selling rather than retail noise. Who uses this: institutional-style traders looking for short entries on the first day of breakdown from a distribution base. Failure mode: the low-volume consolidation may have been accumulation, not distribution — a breakdown that quickly reverses on buying is a classic bear trap. Related screens: Accumulation Breakout and Volume Surge 2x.